99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall
by The Writer Triumphant
Summary: Sora the love of my life convinces me to drive nearly clear across the country to rescue his twin brother. It wouldn't have been that bad, except we have to bring Kairi along. And Sora's boyfriend. Roxas, you'd better be worth it. AkuRoku, RikuSora. AU.
1. Benji

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

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**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるますか？

**This Chapter Rated** for swearing, mild Christy Carlson Romano bashing, slightly heavier Jesse McCartney bashing, and some suggestive stuff.

**Dedicated to Vixen2004**

* * *

**One: There are some people I'd take a bullet for, and others I'd like to put a bullet _in_.**

"Day two on the road, 5 pm. There is now silence in the car, mostly because Kairi refuses to speak to me as I'm an _asshole_, and because Sora and Riku have had a lover's quarrel. The tension in the car is so think I could cut through it with a knife. Perhaps Sora will finally see that we should just pull over, kick Riku and Kairi out, drive to Vegas and get married. Or perhaps I should shut up now. Kairi looks murderous. Like she's going to break my tape recorder. Again."

Kairi turned her attention back to the map once the device was back in my pocket. I mentally scoffed. I didn't need a map! I knew exactly where I was going.

I glanced through the rearview mirror at Sora, who was hunched up against the door, nose pressed to the window, a cute pout on his lips. Riku gave me the finger. Just wait, Riku Unmei... I'm leaving you at the next gas station. You'll be stuck there, and eventually they'll force you to work, cleaning the bathrooms. You'll have to live off of Red Bull and Milky Way. I grinned. That's exactly what I would do. And then I'd find a way to ditch Kairi. Then I'd drive this stupid soccer mom-mobile to Vegas.

"Kindly stop undressing my boyfriend with your dirty, perverted eyes, Moreu," Riku growled.

Sora turned around and hissed something in his direction that I didn't quite catch. Then those cerulean eyes flashed a look of pure spite in my direction and the whole goddamn minivan swerved. Kairi threw me a glare that clearly meant, _If_ _you so much as scratch this car, I will kill you_. I dutifully turned my attention back to the road. Out of the corner of my eye, Kairi was flipping through her CD case.

Crap. Please. What did I do to deserve this?

In addition to the countless other things Kairi and I didn't agree on, music fell under the "If I have to listen to this for another second I will shoot myself" end for me and the "I think my eardrums are bleeding" end for Kairi. I liked anything heavy and angsty and dark. Kairi was all about the sugar, spice, and everything girl music. Kelly Clarkson. Mariah Carey. So when The first lines of "Beautiful Soul" filled the car, I had to fight the urge to rip the evil radio/ CD player thing out of the Odyssey and throw it out the window. Who in their right minds sings about wanting a girl's _soul_? Was this Jesse McCartney guy some sort of soul-sucking zombie? No. He was probably just gay and in denial. Guys don't want souls. They want curves. At least the heterosexual ones.

_You're the one I wanna chase _

_You're the one I wanna hold_

_I wont let another minute go to waste _

_I want you and your beautiful soul_

My hands tightened on the wheel. Kairi was smiling and actually quietly singing along. Someone just shoot me.

"We can stop for dinner in an hour," Kairi decided. Riku and Sora muttered an affirmative from the backseat.

After ten minutes of Jesse soul-sucking-pansy McCartney, I was treated to some very bouncy song by some chick named Christy Carlson Romano. It was a horrible product of 1 part country, 3 parts pop, and 6 parts fluffy lyrics. Someone needed to introduce this girl to the 'real world'.

"RIKU, YOU PERVERT!!"

The Honda once again swerved dangerously, and this time I was spared Kairi's death glare because she too had turned around to see what was wrong. Sora never called his boyfriend a pervert. Usually that term of endearment was reserved for me. Riku's arms were wrapped loosely around Sora's waist, and Sora, bless him, was trying to push him away.

"Hands off him or I'll kick you out of my car, Unmei," I said.

"It's my mom's car," Kairi corrected.

"I'm driving."

"AXEL, YOU IDIOT!! KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD!!" Sora snapped, sending me another sky blue glare. I complied immediately. Riku let go of Sora, who promptly kicked Riku in the shin. Hard.

"What's with you two?" Kairi asked.

Sora squirmed.

Riku smirked.

I had the feeling that I wasn't going to like this at all. Sora murmured something unintelligible.

"Sora?"

"Kairi... just leave him alone," I heard myself say.

She scowled at me. "Something's bothering him and I want to know what it is so that I can fix it."

I shrugged in defeat. Personally, I didn't want to know. After all, Riku was involved.

"Rikuwasmolestingme!" Sora finally said, giving in under the pressure of Kairi's concerned, motherly gaze. She blinked.

"Riku... Was. Molesting... you?" she asked, dumbstruck. Eyes on the road Axel. Eyes on the road.

Sora nodded.

"But he's your boyfriend!" she interjected, obviously confused. "I thought he did that all the time."

"But not in the bathroom!" Sora cried, throwing Riku a nasty look.

Too much information already. I looked over my shoulder, catching Riku's satisfied smirk before knowing it was safe to move into the next lane. I figured it was about time to start looking for an exit.

"Axel!" Sora suddenly cried, bouncing. "Look! Get out here! Here!"

I did as I was told wondering what in the world was up. Then I saw the golden arches and understood. Doubtless Sora wanted a happy meal. He may be sixteen, but when it comes to his appetite, he's actually about five. Kairi made a face, and I had the feeling that she was going to start complaining about her diet. Riku just watched Sora bounce up and down.

"I hate MacDonald's... everything is so fattening."

"Oh, come now, Kairi," I insisted, pulling into a parking space, "A pretty girl like you shouldn't worry about her figure."

She raised an eyebrow and 'hmph'ed. "Axel Moeru, flattery will get you nowhere."

"Believe me, I know," I retorted, putting the Honda in park. "But seriously, Kairi. You don't need a fucking diet. You're a skinny noodle." I grinned.

She glared.

Riku and Sora laughed.

Somehow, I knew I was going to be paying dearly for that remark later. But later was a long way off. We entered the bright world of MacDonald's, Sora immediately launching into a very loud rant about there being hypodermic needles and feces in the ball pit, something he'd read on MySpace. Seven children were instantly plucked from the play area, wailing their fat, hairy heads off until they could be consoled with little plastic toys.

I ordered a Big Mac, Riku ordered a Filet-o-Fish meal, Kairi a chicken salad, and Sora a chicken nuggets Happy Meal. The fast food took only minutes to get to us, and we all went to fill our cups, Sora snatching handfuls of ketchup packets. We squeezed into a horrible plastic booth, Kairi picking at her salad and muttering about how many calories it probably contained. Sora sat next to me across from Riku, and within a few moments a kick fest had begun under the table.

"Axel, take your hand off my thigh!" Sora squeaked.

"Oh, was that your thigh?" I asked innocently.

"Moeru, hands off now. Or you'll find that Big Mac shoved up your small-"

I snatched my hand away. Damn.

Kairi sighed and poked at her salad. She'd barely touched it.

"Kairi," I warned. "We've still got hours to go until we stop at a hotel for the night, so you'd better eat that. I'm not pulling over for Twinkies and organic milk."

She glared and pointed her fork threateningly at me. "You wouldn't... but _Sora_ would."

I blinked. What was she implying?

"Sora, I think you should take a turn driving. You brought your permit, right?"

Oh.

_Shit_.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love Sora. Really. But I'd sooner go all the way to Japan to get Kairi's organic soy milk than climb into a car with Sora Hikari driving. Unfortunately, Sora loved to drive. He thought he was master off all roads or something. So there was no way in hell he was turning down _that_ suggestion.

"Actually, I forgot..." Sora admitted sheepishly.

I breathed a sigh of relief. I wasn't looking forward to sitting though a few hours of Sora bouncing in the driver's seat, swerving madly, opening all the windows, and insisting that he was driving a spaceship.

Once we'd eaten and taken our bathroom breaks, we left the restaurant, Kairi having bought a fashion magazine from the adjacent gas station, Sora launching into another hypodermic needles conspiracy.

"And that's why you always check under the handle before you pump gas!"

So it wasn't until we got back onto the freeway that I noticed someone was missing. Not that I cared. In fact, I was certain this was a good omen. But Kairi, finished reading her horoscope – "Bad time for traveling." – noticed.

"Uh... Sora? Where's Riku?"

"I locked him in the bathroom."

"WHAT?!" Kairi screeched. "Axel, turn this car around right now! I can't believe you did that, Sora!"

"Payback," the brunet explained.

I had to smile.

"Axel! We have to go back for him!"

I sighed.

"Oh look... I just missed the exit..."

Kairi reached for her CD wallet. "Unless you want to be stuck listening to 'Beautiful Soul' for the remainder of the trip..."

She didn't have to finish that sentence.

Riku had been left in the restroom for nearly half an hour by the time we came to the rescue. He gave Sora hell for it, but admitted he might have deserved it, and apologized. Sora allowed himself to be dragged into the bathroom for... uh... further apology.

Naturally we were kicked out and banned from all MacDonald's in the area.

An hour later we were on the freeway again, Jesse McCartney free. Now, if I could only get Sora to stop singing "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall" and get this mini van to Vegas sans Riku and Kairi, I'd be one happy pyro. Unfortunately, our final destination was Roxas Hikari, Sora's twin brother, who lived in Orlando, Florida.

How did I manage to get myself into this mess?

Well, it's a long story, But I think I've got time.

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**- The Writer**

**Ending Note: **After writing Ever Heard of Public Transportation?, I figured a bigger AxelRoxas story was in order. Not exactly my OTP, but hey. Axel is fun to write.

And yeah, I was going to wait until my other KH fic was done, but hell, it only needs one chapter.


	2. Jim

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Vixen2004** and her bro, who found the previous chapter very funny. I like making people laugh.

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**Two: I really want to love somebody. I do. I just don't know if it's possible forever and ever.**

So.

It started with a whale.

Or maybe it was a sandwich?

A sandwich named after a whale. That was it. It started with a sandwich named after a whale. I was a new student at West Oceanview, and I thought things were going pretty well. I hadn't put up much of a fuss at having to switch schools for senior year. I was quite glad to leave rainy, gloomy Seattle and my homicidal/ suicidal friends. Well, I'd miss Zexion, I think. Maybe even Larxene. But I probably wouldn't miss the others much.

But I'm getting off track here.

So there I was, waiting in line for lunch, examining the menu. Apparently, in honor of National Library Month or something, all our food choices were named after stuffy old books and the dead white guys who wrote them. There was a salad called The Merchant of Venice, a sundae called The Great Gatsby, and then there was a sandwich called The Moby Dick.

I'm not kidding you.

I could just imagine myself coming up to the front of the line and saying to the lunch lady, "Yes, I'd like a Moby Dick, please."

I had just decided that this would be hilarious and a great thing to do when I realized it was my turn, the fat kid in front of me walking away with a Great Gatsby.

"How can I help you?"

The perfectly structured sentence I had formulated in my mind was instantly lost. Instead of the dumpy lunch lady in a hairnet that I was expecting, I was met by a pair of stunning blue eyes and a beautiful smile. His nametag read "Sora" and no hairnet on earth could contain the mess of hair on his head. A blue West Oceanview baseball cap managed to do the job fairly well, though.

Of course, when my brain decides to stop working, my mouth starts working on autopilot.

"Do any of the salads come with a side order of you?"

Sora blushed.

Adorable.

A swift kick to my shin jolted me back to reality.

"That's my _boyfriend_ you're hitting on, you asshole."

And that was how I met Riku Unmei.

I glared at him, and he continued.

"Yes. My boyfriend, you shithead. And you'll have to excuse me for skipping the formal introductions, but I respect the fact that Sora has work to do. _And you are holing up the fucking line!_"

Luckily, my "school guide" was Kairi, who happened to be Sora's best friend. She was also Riku's friend, but I didn't really care about that. All I cared about was Sora. Kairi pulled me back to earth and into my Merchant of Venice salad and proceeded to give me "he's happily married" type of speech, only half of which I listened to. That half being the one where Kairi admitted Riku could be an asshole. Something positive came after that, I'm sure. But then, I didn't care. I also decided that Kairi and I didn't see eye to eye on most things.

For one, she was drinking soy milk. All things soy are evil.

Then she started going on about the school dance. Worrying about who was going to ask her, about what she was going to wear... (I was glad I only had a salad. I had the feeling that if I'd ordered Herman Melville's classic, I'd be barfing Moby Dick all over my "school guide".)

Finally, she started in on a "Riku and Sora are so inseparable not even the likes of you could tear them apart, you quintessence of manhood". Okay, so she didn't call me the quintessence of manhood. But I was only half paying attention, remember?

Anyway.

From that day on I chased Sora Hikari, frequently getting kicked in the shin by Riku. Sora slowly became my friend, and just as I was sure he would come crawling to me, my wandering hands ruined it for the rest of my body.

So when I got home and my mom asked me what I'd learned in school – a nasty habit she picked up after my kindergarten teacher encouraged it – I replied:

"_Touch football_, while including the word 'touch', doesn't necessarily entitle me to grope Sora Hikaru's ass."

She was smart enough to not ask me for elaboration.

From then on, I was a pervert to Sora, but for some reason the three of them – Kairi, Sora, Riku – let me hang around. It helped that I made friends with Pence and Olette, friends of theirs. We ate lunch together most of the time, and we passed the hour with me trying to woo Sora, Riku kicking me in the shin, Kairi and Olette muttering about what idiots we were, and Pence trying to engage us all in conversation.

I was happy, for the most part.

And then came our two week vacation for Easter. Or something. And since I was the only one with a driver's license, it was to me who Sora came, needing a favor. And unfortunately, it wasn't _that_ kind of favor. I let him into my house, served him juice and shoved a plate of my mom's almost burnt cookies into his lap, and he launched into the story of his life. Apparently he had a fraternal twin brother who was living in Florida with their mom. (Sora lived with a distant Uncle. Very distant.) The week previous his brother had called to say that their mom was falling into her drinking habits again, and Sora, the elder my two minutes, had a duty to come whisk his beloved sibling away from the clutches of evil.

So could I drive him across the country to rescue said brother?

I couldn't deny him.

We planned to leave early the next morning, but Riku discovered our plans to elope – I mean rescue Sora's brother – and insisted on coming along.

Sora couldn't deny him.

And then, to make matters worse, my car broke down. Not like that was a surprise. It was a pile of junk I bought from some old geezer named Cid. There was no way I was going to shell over all of my hard earned money to have the stupid thing fixed. Again. (It had broken down three times since I'd bought it, and I just wasn't going to bother anymore.)

So we went crawling to Kairi.

Her parents were out of town for the two weeks, leaving her with her cousins Leon and Tifa. But she had the keys to her mom's car. And of course she had to come along to make sure I didn't crash it.

So there you have it.

It started with a sandwich named after a whale.

* * *

"Take one down!" Sora cried. 

"Pass it around..." I muttered, so lacking enthusiasm.

"Twenty-seven bottles of beer on the wall!"

The thing about Sora was his endless supply of energy. Now, usually I wouldn't mind the traveling song, but not in a traffic jam wherein the Odyssey had only moved three feet in all of an hour. Besides, I had other ideas for those copious amounts of energy.

Riku caught me looking again, and I was very very glad that I was in the front seat and he in the back. That meant he couldn't kick my shin. Oh yes. Life was good.

_Thump._

_Thump._

_Thump!_

Okay. So he could kick the back of my seat.

God help me. Kairi was looking through her CD wallet again.

I pulled out my tape recorder.

"Day two on the road, 9 pm. We are a mere five miles from our hotel for the night, but stuck in traffic. We should have left Riku in that MacDonald's bathroom."

_Thump._

"Note to self: rip Riku's legs off when we get to the hotel. Then lock him in a linen closet."

Half an hour later the traffic let up and we made it to the hotel. Sadly, I was denied the privilege of ripping Riku's legs off. As further punishment, I was made to share a room with Riku and Sora.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	3. Uma

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Vixen2004**, **Dualism**, and the 50 people who have this story on their alerts list.

* * *

**Three: Boredom is a great motivator.**

Needless to say, I wasn't pleased at having to share a room with the lovebirds. But Kairi forced me to. Or else I'm sleeping in the van. So. I decided that I had every right to lock Riku in the linen closet across the hall.

Only that didn't pan out so well.

Uh... yeah.

Got kicked in the shin again.

And according to Kairi, we're not allowed to fight or they'll kick us out of the hotel.

So, scowling and glaring and muttering colorful threats, Riku and I were forced to accept that fact that for tonight we are sharing a room. And if we don't behave Kairi is going to kidnap Sora for the night. Which means I'll be stuck bunking with a sexually frustrated Riku. Which, in retrospect, is marginally better than listening to Riku and Sora go at it all night. Of course, since he and Riku wouldn't be alone, Sora firmly demanded that Riku keep his hands to himself. Kind of a double edged sword. Riku doesn't get any and I don't get to see Sora naked.

Needless to say, Sora and Kairi were the only ones who got a good night's rest.

"Day three on the road, 10 am. The continental breakfast sucked. Riku has something up his ass, as usual, and our next stop for the night is Vegas. You know what that means."

I shot Sora a suggestive look through the rearview mirror and he blushed, earning me a swift kick in the back of my seat from Riku.

"Do that again, Unmei and I swear I will crash this fucking soccer mom-mobile."

"Axel Moeru, do any such thing and I will castrate you," Kairi hissed, holding up a Mariah Carey CD for added measure.

Road trips are fun.

"I want to watch a movie!" Sora piped up suddenly. Either he was trying to break through the killing aura that was quickly filling the van or he was just being completely random.

"I have a few in my suitcase, Sora," Kairi said.

Sora unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed into the very back seat. Oh my giddy aunt. He just had to go fling himself over the seat like that and stick his cute little ass up in the air.

"Eyes on the road, Moeru," Riku drawled. I gave him the finger and went back to driving. Once the _rear view_ mirror was... properly adjusted, that is.

Sora found _Tarzan_ in Kairi's suitcase – Disney version – and handed it up. I don't really like that movie, so I threw him one of the headphone sets. Of course, I really like that song "Strangers Like Me", because Phil Collins rocks. So I made Sora promise to signal me when it was going to start so I could switch the sound to speaker.

For a brief 88 minutes everything was nice. I mean, a calm settled over us. Sora quietly watched _Tarzan_, Kairi flipped through a number of bright fashion magazines, and Riku and I watched Sora – while I managed to keep driving, of course.

And then it was time for lunch.

Because, if you recall, the continental breakfast sucked.

And Sora wanted a happy meal.

But we were still banned from every McDonald's in Arizona.

So at Kairi's insistence, we stopped at a Pizza Hut. Which is confusing to me. If she was so worried about her figure, why did she want pizza? Didn't she know that it went straight to your hips? Inwardly, I laughed evilly. I was going to watch her devour half a pizza before breaking the news to her. Fool proof, perfect plan. Of course, she had to go ruin it by ordering a stupid salad. How can she live on salad?

Riku and Sora share a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese, and I have a small loaded with bell pepper, sausage, salami, pepperoni, and a rain of crushed red pepper all to myself.

"So we'll be in Vegas by 10, right, Kairi?" Sora asked.

"We should be, if everything goes right."

By her calculations we'd be in Orlando in four more days.

I was so not looking forward to the heat. I had just started getting used to California. And Florida wasn't dry heat, either. No. It was sweltering suffocating humid heat.

"Can we stay at Circus Circus tonight, Kairi?" Sora begged.

"It's too expensive, Sora."

"Please?"

Again he was denied. We didn't have much money as it was, needing most of it for gas, so we were going to have to take the cheapest lodgings everywhere.

"I brought my credit card with me," I spoke up. "I don't see why we can't stay at Circus Circus for the night."

Sora smiled at me.

Riku and Kairi glared.

"Axel, you should save that money for emergencies!" Kairi snapped.

"Fine," I muttered. "How about on the way back if I haven't used it we spend two nights in any Vegas hotel we want?"

Sora got really excited at this. "Roxas would love that!"

Kairi sighed and went back to picking at her salad. I took that to mean she had no objections.

We got back on the road easily enough, Kairi and I arguing about directions for a few minutes first. Once we'd been on the road again for almost two hours, the other three decided to take a nap. I basked in the silence, occasionally glancing back to watch Sora sleep.

I was just getting used to the silence, wondering if I could get away with turning on the radio low, when Sora's cell phone rang.

My passengers stirred a little in their sleep, but no one was waking up just yet. I grinned, plucked the cell from Sora's shoe behind Kairi's seat, and flipped it open.

"Thank you for calling Riku Haters United. If you'd like to make a donation to the cause, please press one. If you'd like to submit an insult, press two. And if..."

"You must be Axel."

"Yup. Axel Moreu. Got it memorized?"

"Can I speak to Sora?" The person on the other end had a very attractive voice. A hint of spice in it, too.

"Sora's asleep right now."

"Well then. I'll just have to ask you, then."

"Sure. Ask away."

"Where are you right now?"

"Well, we're about two hours from the Nevada state line." I blinked. Wait. "Who's this?"

"Roxas."

"Ah, so _you're_ the mysterious brother we're going to rescue."

"Guilty."

"Kairi says we're doing good on travel time... so we should be in Orlando in about four days. Give or take." In the back seat, Riku started to wake up. Damn.

"Tell Sora to call me. You know, when he wakes up."

"Sure thing, Rox."

I hung up and put the cell phone back in Sora's shoe. Riku glared at me.

"Why did you answer it?"

"Because... it was ringing?"

"I'm telling Sora."

"Go ahead."

Kairi was already waking up. "We'll need to stop for gas soon," she commented. I grunted an affirmative.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	4. Jessica

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to the amazing **Vixen2004**, the wonderful **Dualism**, and the lovely **Constance Greene**. All great reviewers. Also to the people who have me on their favorites list for this story. Thank you!

Here's a bit of implied AxelKairiness for you, **Vixen**! (Don't worry, the rest of you. It will end up as an AkuRoku, but let me have my fun, yus?)

**Opening Note: **The chapter titles? Well the longish one down there, all the longish ones, actually, are quotes from celebrities. The chapter titles up there in the little scroll box thingie are the names of the celebrities who supplied the quote. For instance, the first chapter was called **There are some people I'd take a bullet for and others I'd like to put a bullet _in_. **This was said by Benji Madden, so the short title for that chapter was **Benji**. Got it memorized, fools?

"Bodas" is Spanish for "Weddings". Just so you know.

* * *

**Four: My theory is that if you look confident you can pull off anything - even if you have no clue what you're doing.**

Back in Seattle I had a friend named Luxord. His dream was to move to Vegas and open up his own casino. Demyx, who was the least suicidal of all of us, claimed he would follow Luxord, round up a band of showgirls, and perform at his casino every night. Demyx was kind of weird.

We pulled up to a cheap but clean hotel in Gambler's Paradise just after 10 pm. The place was alive with lights and color and music and the air was filled with smoke. I like a good fire, but cigarette and cigar smoke makes me sick. I could never live here.

Unfortunately, we all had to share one tiny room this time. Kairi had drawn out a budget, and she insisted we follow it. Even if it meant she didn't get her own room sometimes.

One problem.

There were only two beds.

"So, you'll be sleeping on the floor, right?"

If looks could kill...

"Why yes, Axel, I _am_ sleeping on the floor," Kairi replied sweetly, sarcasm oozing from every syllable.

"I think Axel should sleep on the floor," Riku volunteered.

I kicked him in the shin.

"I'm the driver," I protested as Kairi and Sora held Riku by the arms. "I need to get a good night's sleep."

"Then you and Kairi will have to share a bed," Sora said, as though that settled the matter.

It didn't.

"I'm not sharing a bed with _that_." The dramatic effect of this was ruined, of course, when I realized that Kairi and I were protesting in stereo.

"Shikata ga nai," Riku replied with a shrug. "If you don't want to sleep on the floor, then you're sharing it."

Kairi and I glared at each other.

"If _it_ touches me..." once again, the effect of this is ruined by our voices echoing one another's.

Sora laughs.

Kairi puts no effort into her sleeping attire at all, even though it's obvious this is the first time she's shared a bed with any male. She should consider herself lucky, the freak. There are plenty of women who would rip her limbs apart for the chance to share a bed with me. In fact, there are plenty of women who would rip her limbs apart anyway.

She scoots all the way to the other side of the bed, which isn't an easy thing to do, as this only leaves us with about six inches of space between us.

I'm _so_ going to hog the blankets.

After about an hour of "Axel, you blanket whore!" from Kairi and "Riku! Let me sleep!" from Sora, we all settle down. Outside Vegas is still alive, and it never sleeps.

* * *

I wake up just after one in the morning, and my first thought is that I must be in hell.

Kairi's arms are wrapped around my neck, and her breath is warm on my shoulder. It's like a corny romance fanfiction. And worst of all, some part of my anatomy actually likes this. Unwilling to let this fluffy moment go to waste, I decide Kairi's rather cute when she's not being a complete freak.

And then I push her off the bed.

Of course, the bitch keeps her hold on me, and we both tumble to the floor.

Shit.

"AXEL YOU PERVERT!"

Riku stirs, but it's actually Sora who wakes up. Kairi climbs back into bed and scoots all the way to the wall again, falling asleep again almost immediately.

"Hey, Sora," I whisper.

"Yeah...?" he seriously looks like an angel now, hair all mussed around his head like a halo.

"Let's go do something fun."

* * *

Viva Las Bodas is right across the street from our motel, and I drag Sora there and buy him a condom rose. He blushes eight shades or red and mutters that he's going to give it to Riku. I sigh.

"It isn't that I don't find you attractive, Axel..." he starts. "But I love Riku."

This is my cue to back off.

At least for the rest of the day.

So instead I suggest we volunteer to be witnesses for weddings. We do five in a row and then Sora is talked into being a flower... boy. I play the organ, singing under my breath:

_Here comes the bride, all fat and wide..._

_Here comes the groom, skinny as a broom!_

We join two wedding parties for drinks – I don't let Sora touch anything with alcohol in it – and then we get kicked out of the chapel for leading a conga line around complete with a few prostitutes that were waiting on the corner.

"See, Axel?" Sora insists as we climb back into bed – me pulling the blankets away from Kairi – "We can have fun together, as _friends_."

He slips the condom rose under Riku's pillow as a surprise and cuddles right up to his silver haired lover.

I smile sadly.

But I haven't admitted defeat yet.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	5. Walt

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Constance Greene**, awesome reviewer. To Dualism and Vixen2004. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. To the people who have this story on their favorites and/or alert list.

* * *

**Five: If you're going through hell, keep going.**

Sora's phone rang just as after we crossed into Texas, breaking the tense silence in the car. Kairi was mad at me because I'd accidentally broken her Ashlee Simpson CD. And it was an accident. Honest! It wasn't my fault she decided to bring all of her music with her into the Taco Bell. I didn't suggest it. And I had nothing to do with the guy on the skateboard. No, Kairi. I didn't pay him to knock you over and snap your beloved CD in half and scratch almost every other one you dropped. So we have to go the rest of the trip without Mariah, Ashlee and Jesse.

Tragic, really.

"Oh. We just entered Texas."

Sora pushed Riku away so that he could talk to his brother without interruption. Riku pouted and crossed his arms, and I could practically hear all the nasty names he was calling Roxas in his mind. Horny Bastard.

"What?" A strange look crossed Sora's face and his eyes briefly met mine through the rearview mirror. "Okay... hold on." He put his hand over the receiver and handed the phone up. "Uh... Axel? Roxas... wants to talk to you."

He sounded as confused as I felt, but I took it anyway.

"Hello, future brother-in-law," I greeted, earning a kick to the back of my seat from Riku.

Roxas laughed, and I decided right away that poor Sora, while blessed with a beautiful smile, had gotten the short end of the stick when it came to expressing mirth. Roxas had a sexy laugh.

"I wanted to submit an insult to Riku Haters United."

I grinned. "Thank you for helping the cause."

Roxas and I talked for a few minutes longer, mostly verbally abusing Riku to the point that Sora had to silence his boyfriend with kisses and light touches to keep him from choking me and crashing the car. This, of course, irritated me, and I was forced to hang up on the Hikari twin to pull out of the freeway and insist we all have lunch.

So we're in Texas.

Mexican food, of course.

We found a nice little restaurant that looked inexpensive, and Sora started reading the menu aloud to us.

"Kay-sa-di-las con po-yo... are-ohz con lay-chay... tore-tahs day car-nee asa-duh..."

Kairi, Riku and I laughed at his horrible mispronunciation.

"I want a salad," Kairi said.

"They don't sell salads," I replied smugly.

"What's the healthiest thing there is, then?" Kairi asked.

"Everything is healthy," I said defensively, ordering a torta of carne asada. Riku ordered himself one, too, and Sora got a quesadilla. Kairi finally decided on a vegetable burrito. Vegetable burrito.

"If you keep eating like that you're going to be as skinny as a beanpole," I warned her.

"I _want_ to be skinny," she retorted, cutting her burrito in half.

"You're _already_ skinny," I argued. "When you run you look like a limp noodle on crack."

This earned me a kick in the shin. I'm going to be stuck with a permanent limp when this trip is over.

"Axel, can I have the keys? I need to go get my phone and call Uncle Auron."

I handed them over and Riku followed Sora out to the car.

"They won't be back for a while..." Kairi muttered.

Instead of inwardly fuming at this, I took the opportunity to dump the remainder of my hot sauce into the remainder of Riku's lunch. Take that, Unmei.

Kairi said nothing, just rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded vaguely like "You'd think he would have given up by now..."

Sora and Riku came back a few minutes later, much to Kairi's surprise. Riku looked dejected. Obviously his plans to molest Sora in the car had been crushed, because Sora was still talking on the phone.

"Axel's responsible!" he was saying. "Of course you can trust him! Why do you only ever get protective when I'm about a thousand miles away?"

Riku was too caught up in his glaring at the cell phone hard enough to make it explode that it took a good thirty seconds for him to react to the vast amount of chipotle sauce I'd poured into his torta.

For future reference, water doesn't help at all.

But I already knew that. That's why there was a nice cold glass of it in front of him.

His face turned redder than my hair and I got a good laugh out of it.

Of course, we were banned from that place, too. And all the other _Maria's_ in Texas. Which, as it turns out, there are a lot of. Like, three hundred.

"Between you and Riku, we're going to be stuck eating out of gas stations," Kairi grumbled as we entered the freeway again.

"We're going to pass through San Antonio, right Axel?" Sora asked. "I want to walk along the river."

"Maybe we can find a hotel close to it," Riku said, and I knew he was planning on a romantic moonlit walk. Which was kind of sweet, when you thought about it. We hit some hard traffic coming into the city, so by the time we managed to find a hotel close enough to the river, it was nearing midnight.

Much to my displeasure, Kairi had fallen asleep and could barely stay on her feet for more than five seconds. So I was forced to carry her inside. I mentally thanked her for only eating vegetarian stuff on the way up. She was as skinny as a noodle, but she was also very light.

"Sora and I are going for a walk," Riku said as soon as he dumped their suitcases on the floor.

"It's 12 am!" I hissed, dropping my bag, too. Kairi wrapped her arms tighter around my neck, nuzzling my chest and muttering something unintelligible.

"We'll be back soon," Sora insisted. "I want to see the river!"

I sighed. "Whatever."

Once again, we had two beds. I made to deposit Kairi on one so that I could take the other and force Sora and Riku to sleep on the floor, but Kairi pulled me with her, stirring awake when we landed in a soft tangle of arms and legs.

"If you wanted to sleep with me you could have just said so," I said cheekily.

She didn't let go of me.

"No hogging the blankets," she said before drifting off again. I smiled and kicked off my shoes, a little too tired to argue.

* * *

The sound of the bathroom door slamming woke me up and I pushed Kairi off of me, tiptoeing across the room and putting my ear to the door and knocking softly.

"Riku?" came the hopeful call.

"Axel," I corrected. "Is something wrong, Sora?"

A sigh. "No. I'm just going to take a shower..."

"It's one in the morning."

"So?"

I sighed. "Fine. Where's Riku?"

"I don't care." I heard the shower turn on.

"Sora?" I questioned. What did he mean? I knew I should have felt happy, but for some reason I was worried. Sora didn't sound too happy.

Behind me, the door opened and closed with a quiet click, admitting Riku. I couldn't see clearly, but judging by his posture, Riku looked cold and... scared?

"Hey," I said softly.

"Axel?" Kairi called from the bed.

"Go back to sleep," I hissed.

"So you guys jumped into bed the moment we were gone, eh?" Riku teased, his tone not as smug as usual, not half as cocky. He sounded like he was trying to hide the fact that he seemed so small and vulnerable at that moment.

"Riku?"

"Fuck off."

This too was said half-heartedly.

He waked to the other side of the room, past me and to the glass door, sliding it open and stepping out onto the balcony. I hesitated a moment, then followed.

"Something wrong?"

I didn't know why I cared. This was Riku Unmei, my rival in love.

"I said... just leave me alone."

I didn't move. He did look scared.

"Sora seemed upset..."

Defeated, Riku hung his head and muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "He told me that he loves me."

I blinked.

"And...?"

Riku turned to me, emerald blue eyes blinking in the half light, and I understood.

"You were too scared to say it back."

We stood there for a long time.

"I felt so happy when he said it... but at the same time..." he ran a hand through his sheet of silver hair. "No one's ever told me before... _that_. Not the way he said it. And the way he looked at me... I knew he was waiting for me to say it back to him. But I couldn't make the words come out of my mouth."

"Do you love him?" I asked.

"With everything that I am," was the quick response, and I didn't doubt it because of the intensity in his eyes.

"Then you should tell him. Right now he probably feels so unloved, Riku..."

"Then why didn't you take advantage?" he asked, a silver brow quirking upward.

"I..." Well. Why _wasn't_ I? I thought of Sora's voice, full of hurt, imagining that the light must be gone from his eyes.

Riku smirked. "I'll let you figure that out on your own."

I grinned.

"So what are you waiting for? Go tell him. I understand that you're scared. Love is a really big thing. But think of how scared he was, before he told you."

Riku nodded.

"I guess... but..." he looked up at me. "How am I supposed to...? He locked the door."

I laughed.

"Riku Umei. Welcome to the Axel Moeru School of Lockpicking."

* * *

It was around eight in the morning when they finally walked out of the bathroom, looking tired but happy. I looked up from the map and grinned.

"Hey, Unmei," I said. "What are you going to do for a face when the baboon wants his ass back?"

Sora laughed and Riku glared at us both_. I'll have to remember to thank Roxas for that one_, I thought.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	6. Elizabeth

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Dualism** and **Vixen2004**. I don't know what I'd do without you guys. To 110 people. The 110 people who watch this story. To anyone who works at Burger King

**Note: **In this chapter Axel mentions that they will be passin through New Orleans. I have never been there. Keep that in mind. Please also note that for the purposes of this story, we are going to assume that Katrina never happened. I don't mean to offend anyone.

* * *

**Six: A bit of lusting after someone does wonders for the skin.**

We must have passed fifteen _Maria's_ on our way out of San Antonio. Irony is a bitch. So for lunch and dinner we managed to find a couple of Burger King stops. The second one didn't serve salads, though. So, as you can imagine, Kairi threw a fit. And we are now banned from every Burger King in Texas. At least this time we could blame it on her.

"We should write a book," Sora commented. "_101 Ways to Banning Yourself from Every Fast Food Restaurant in America_."

Kairi didn't find this funny.

"How could they not have salads?" she muttered.

"Because vegetables are evil, Kairi," Sora replied solemnly.

Thankfully, Sora's cell phone went off before the argument. Sora barely put in three words before handing the phone up to me.

"You should have seen Riku's face, Rox," I said. "Baboon's ass."

I was rewarded by a ribbon of the husk filled laughter.

"So you'll be here day after, right?"

"According to Kairi. We're spending the night in New Orleans tonight, then Tallahassee..." I looked to Kairi to make sure I was getting our route right. She nodded.

"Hurry..."

I almost stopped the car right then. I could tell from his voice that he was trying to joke. Trying to sound sarcastic, even. But there was fear there.

"Hey, Rox."

"Yeah?"

"Look, I'm driving right now, but we're going to stop in a bit for gas. I'll call you back, okay?"

"Okay..." he sounded confused, hopeful.

The next hour seemed to drag on like eternity wrapped in forever and coated with infinity.

I remembered Sora saying that Roxas wanted to leave the house because their mother was falling into her drinking habits again. Did she beat Roxas? Did she know we were coming for him? Would she let us take him? All of this was spinning through my head. Yesterday, I thought Sora had maybe exaggerated a bit. Lightly, so that I could be cajoled into driving cross-country. I imagined Roxas just having problems with his mother. Typical teenage rebellion stuff.

But maybe it was worse.

"Hey," I said to Riku, handing him twenty dollars, "Take care of the gas situation, will you? I need to make a call."

I didn't have time to hear him protest. I walked a little ways away from the bright light of the station and called.

"Axel?"

"Yeah, it's me, Rox."

"Where are you guys now?"

"Just outside Lafayette." I hesitated. "Roxas... if you want, I can leave the others in New Orleans. I can drive all night and most of tomorrow so I can be there tomorrow night."

There was silence on the other end.

"You... you'd do that?"

"Sure." I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd been worried that he would be angry. Maybe even offended. "If you want me to."

Another silence.

"It's okay. I can wait a little longer."

Sora and Kairi watched me from the van, both wearing similar expressions of concern.

"Roxas..." I began. "Does your mom... does she..." I couldn't bring myself to ask.

"Does she hit me?" He laughed, a bitter bite of rancor. "Yeah, she does."

I was silent now. What right did I have to ask? Roxas would hate me now. Before we could be friends.

"Hey... look. It's okay. You're the one driving all the way out here. As a favor to Sora and me. If you wanted to know... well. You should know what you've gotten yourself into, right?"

"Rox..."

"It's okay. It's not so bad. I know when to avoid her, for the most part."

"Does she know we're coming for you?" I asked finally.

"Yeah. Whenever things start to get bad again she says she doesn't want me anymore... says I should leave. So I told her Sora's coming for me, and she didn't fight me on it. So I guess I'll just... you know. Come back for a few months, until she calms down again."

I wondered how many times they'd done this. Maybe before there was me, Sora and his uncle had come for him. Maybe Roxas had flown over. Eventually, their uncle got tired of the back-and-forth. Maybe Sora was forced to come to me because no one else was able to help him. As soon as I thought it I knew it must be true.

"Why go back?" I asked.

"She's my mom..."

"But how can you keep going back to her if she hurts you?"

I couldn't fight the passion in my voice. I was angry. Too angry to care that I might have gone too far.

"What do you care?"

The sentence was terse and cold, and as soon as it was uttered, the bitter and miserable aftertaste fading, the line went dead. I knew he wouldn't answer if I called back.

What did I care?

I didn't even know him.

I knew his laughter. I knew he wasn't happy where he was. I knew he was important to Sora. I knew that I wanted to see him. Help him.

"Axel... are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Kairi. I just need a minute. I don't know if I can drive right now."

"You don't have to!" Sora called cheerfully from the van. "Look what I found!"

His driver's permit.

As if this night couldn't get any worse.

* * *

**- The Writer**

**Ending notes: **Yeah. I'm really up this late. Don't ask. And this is the shortest chapter ever. But I live in California. I've only ever been to Oregon, Washington (the state), Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Texas, and Florida. So the area around Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama? That's going to be a little fuzzy.

They'll be in Florida in the next chapter, anyway.


	7. Liv

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Dualism** and **Vixen2004**. To 113 people! The 113 people who get alerts for this in their mail! To 62 people! The 62 people who list this story in their favorites! And to **Rubix-Complex**, for battling da homework!

* * *

**Seven: I cried on my 18th birthday. I thought 17 was such a nice age. You're young enough to get away with things, but you're old enough, too.**

"87 bottles of beer on the wall, 87 bottles of BEER!" Sora cried over the rushing sound of the wind.

In the backseat, Riku and Kairi clung to one another.

"Sora..." Riku shouted over the wind, "Shouldn't you move to the far right lane?"

Sora pouted and turned around, the van swerving when his hand slipped. "Uncle Auron says I should always stay on the far left, Riku!"

"But you're going nearly 80 miles an hour!" Kairi shrieked.

I seized the wheel to keep us from crashing into a Toyota in front of us and managed to guide the Odyssey into the next lane over to the right.

"This is the _Highwind_, reporting to base!" Sora said in a sing-song voice. "Home base, do you read?"

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. "Yes, _Highwind_. We read."

"Take one down, pass it around, 86 bottles of beer on the wall. 86 bottles of beer on the wall, 86 bottles of BEEEEEEEER!!"

"Sora! Watch out!"

We narrowly missed crashing into a Hummer. Or rather, narrowly escaped being smashed by a Hummer. That's it. I'm taking the soccer mom mobile back.

Somehow we got to New Orleans in one piece. I mean, in four separate pieces. Kairi's hair was a mess, damage dealt by the open windows, and all three of us were a little shaken. But we were fine. Sora was on cloud fucking nine.

"I want to go on a riverboat! And then we have to see Mardi Gras World!"

"Tomorrow, Sora," Riku said, dragging his boyfriend up the stairs to our hotel room. Fortunately, there were three small beds this time, so I didn't have to wake up with Kairi drool on my shoulder. Sora woke us all up early, insisting that if we hurried, we had time for a riverboat ride before we took off again.

We had a good breakfast in the hotel diner and made the first riverboat tour of the day. It was a calm morning, beautiful, and the rhythm of the river and the boat paddle were soothing.

But my thoughts kept drifting back to Roxas. Me and my hot tempter had to go and ruin what was building up to be a nice friendship. And I was still worried about him. How long would it be before his mom got violent enough?

We went to Mardi Gras World and Sora took pictures of nearly every single float, then ran into the gift shop, emerging a moment later dripping Mardi Gras beads. Kairi disappeared into the shop after him, and as we were pushing our luck timewise, I was sent in to retrieve her.

"Kair!" I called. "We've got to go now."

"I'm going to pay for these," she said, holding up her own mess of beads.

"Well hurry," I said. "I'd like to get behind the wheel before Sora does."

She nodded and got in line, fishing through her purse until she found her debit card.

"Oh look," she said, pointing to a display. "Roxas collects those. I wish I could buy one for him, but I probably can't afford it."

A number of antique keys in brass and silver sat on the counter, each rich in detail. One toned in a reddish silver sheen caught my eye. It was styled with sharp features like wicked spokes of some hellish fire wheel. The card under it read "Flames: Bond of Chakram."

I picked it up. It was about the length of my hand and as heavy as a railroad spike.

Hey, what are credit cards for, right?

* * *

We drove all day, crossing miles of farmland through Alabama. Sora soon fell asleep in Riku's lap after a good 45 minutes worth of being excited over cows and goats. When he woke up for lunch he wanted to drive, but his permit had mysteriously vanished. We grabbed sandwiches at a small deli and kept going. It well past 11 pm when we got to Tallahassee. I didn't even put up a fight when Kairi fell into bed next to me and immediately curled up at my side.

I saw Roxas in my dream. He looked a lot like Sora, only his hair was lighter and he wore a scowl instead of a smile. He sat in a little room with a stuffed duffel bag at his feet. I reached out to him, but he turned toward the door, the shadow of a woman blocking the light. A bottle hung limply from one hand, and her speech was slurred, shrieking. I watched as she struck him, sent him flying back into the wall.

I woke up, shaking all over and Kairi moaned, protesting the sudden movement, rolling over in her sleep.

Sora's phone rang.

Sora woke, rubbing at his eyes and searching around his pillow until he found it.

"Uhllo?" he yawned into the receiver. Beside him, Riku stirred.

"Roxas?" I whispered, as though he could hear me. I felt my heart stop when Sora bolted from the bed and started pulling clothes on, telling his brother to "wait just a few hours".

"What's going on?" I asked, getting out of bed, too.

"Roxas is hurt," Sora said once he'd hung up. "We have to go. Now." He was more serious than I'd ever seen him.

"Sora?" Riku called from the bed.

"Go back to sleep," Sora hissed. "Axel. We can leave Kairi and Riku here. I have to get to Roxas."

Normally, the thought of being alone with Sora would have made me happy. But now all I could think of now was Roxas.

"We can make it in four hours," I said. "Maybe three."

"Sora." Riku was awake now, crossing the room.

"I told you to go back to sleep!" Sora muttered darkly, pulling a shirt over his head. Hurt flashed through Riku's eyes, but he stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend, ignoring the squirms of protest.

"Sora. I love you. And I'm going with you."

A small smile lit Sora's face and he stopped struggling. "Get dressed then."

I grinned, pulling on some pants and tugging the blanket away from Kairi. "Get up, sweety," I said.

"Axel," she growled, covering her head with a pillow, "I'm going to make you listen to Hilary Duff all the way to Orlando."

"Whatever you want," I muttered. "Just get up already. Roxas needs us."

* * *

**- The Writer**

My finals start tomorrow. Pray for me.


	8. Jon

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか?

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Dualism** and **Vixen2004**. To the people of Orlando, Florida. To those people who worked at Disneyland – the ones who pulled me out of Mickey's house and thought I only spoke Spanish. To all the people who wished me luck on my finals. Including, but not limited to: **Ranchdressing**, **Shiguna**, **FREAKSHOW1**, **xRikuxDragonx**, **Lily Vendram**, **paintthesilence**, **Rubix-complex**, **rabidbutterfly**, **Koki-chan**, **Candied**, **The** **Jackalope** (picking up the pieces because _The Jackalope_ explodes a lot because of me for some reason), and **The Wykkyd**.

* * *

**Eight: I want a sandwich named after me.**

Orlando was hell on earth. The air wrapped around you, a hot, moist towel. Wrapped around you and choked you to death. The sun was so bright it made you feel exposed. Sweat clung to every inch of skin on our bodies, and everywhere you looked there was Disney. If I saw another pair of Mickey Mouse ears I was going to become an exterminator one day, just for the pleasure of destroying the rodents.

It was taking forever to navigate around this place.

"Turn right up here, Axel."

"No. Not here. We need to take that street over there for three blocks, then turn left and – "

"Sora," I said as calmly as I could, "Let Kairi give the directions, okay? With your sense of direction next thing we know we'll be in Lakeland."

"Just shut up and drive, Moeru."

"I'll kick you out of this car, Unmei. Just watch. I'll drop you off on that corner and let the guy in the Goofy suit molest you."

Riku shut up.

I turned on the radio and slapped Kairi's hand away. My own hands stopped shaking on the wheel when I found something to fill my head. Ronnie James Dio, you saint.

Sora's phone rang. The soccer mom mobile swerved madly as I reached back and plucked it from him.

"Rox?"

"Who is this?" the voice was deep.

"Axel Moreu."

"Please put my nephew on the phone, Axel."

I threw it back to Sora. "Uncle Auron," I grunted, swinging into the next lane. No right turn.

Shit.

"A little help, Kairi?"

"Go straight, turn right just there, then right again. Immediately."

The house was white, with palm trees out front like a Miami house, and the mailbox was one of those weird ones shaped like a treasure chest or something. It looked like a nice house. Small, but nice. Sora was out of the car first, then Kairi, tagging along behind him and fussing like a mother hen. Riku and I followed, our steps almost in unison.

Sora rummaged around in the pockets of his cargo shorts for the key. Searching, searching.

"Oh, screw it," Kairi muttered, reaching out and ringing the doorbell. Sora found his key and fumbled with it for a second before shoving it into the lock. The door opened before he could turn it.

I think I stopped breathing. Or maybe that was just the damn Orlando humidity wrap of hell.

Riku kicked me in the shin. I rounded on him and he smirked, winking. "It's the eyes," he said seriously. "I swear it's the eyes that get you."

I knew what he meant.

Roxas had Sora's eyes, but there was a fierce something in them where in Sora's an innocence. I felt a shock of electric run down my spine. Roxas frowned, deepening the fragment of angry crystal in his eyes. Beautiful. The kid had a head of honey gold hair that stuck up more on one side than the other, like the wind decided to play with it and got rough. He was saying something to Riku, but I didn't hear it. I was too busy staring at his arm. It was bandaged just under his fore elbow, and bruised at the shoulder, the fleshy crease that wasn't quite the hollow of his arm.

"She's not here... she left last night."

I took my eyes off of Roxas long enough to manage a glance at the person who had spoken. A girl. She was willowy and had pale blonde hair and big blue eyes. One hand held the door open, the other was draped around Roxas's waist.

"Naminé," Kairi was the first to acknowledge her, and she stepped forward to embrace the other girl. Roxas pulled Sora into the house, too, and Riku and I followed.

Sora hugged Naminé, too. "Thank you," he said. Apparently she'd cleaned Roxas up.

And then Sora was holding Roxas again, stroking his hair. "Big brother's here," he said, smiling, and Roxas grinned, turned his gaze on Riku. "Fuck, Sora. Did you have to bring _that_ along?"

I grinned.

Riku kicked me in the shin.

"Yeah, it's nice to see you again, Roxas," Riku muttered.

Roxas's eyes landed on me again and I felt that electric jolt. Fire.

Sora backed away from his brother, looking from him to me.

"I'll go get your stuff," he said then, grabbing Riku by the wrist and dragging him down the hall. Kairi and Naminé disappeared to the kitchen.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

He flinched as though the words hurt.

"What do you care?"

The air between us felt heavier than the air outside.

"I drove across the whole fucking country to rescue you," I began, keeping my voice even. "I put up with being crammed in the same car with Riku Unmei for five days. My shins are _bruised_, I think I have the lyrics to some Hilary Duff song stuck in my head. I woke up twice in the past two days with Kairi drool on me. My _shins_ are bruised. I put up with Sora driving and getting kicked out of every fast food place from Yuma, Arizona to Crestview, Florida."

Roxas turned away from me. I grabbed his arm.

"Halfway through all of that," I continued, "I finally got it into my head that I was driving cross country to rescue a person. Bring him back home. Where he would be safe. Someone who I'd never even met, but who I liked right away within a few minutes of talking to him. Look, I probably don't have the right to care. I don't know you. But I want to."

I loosened my grip and he pulled away, slowly.

"When you asked me... how could I keep coming back, I was mad at you."

"I know."

"She's my mom. I love her. So I come back. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with it is that..." I took a deep breath. "If you love her, you've got to help her. She's destroying herself, isn't she?"

He didn't say anything.

"Maybe this time... this time you should stay with Sora."

"You can't tell me what to do."

I grinned, loving the way he looked at me when he said that. The defiant, open stance.

"I'm not trying to."

Slowly, he smiled.

Sora smiled almost every moment of every day. His smiles were like sunshine, bright and eternal. When Roxas smiled, it was like twilight. Soft and glowing. My heart jumped up to my throat and my mind went temporarily blank.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" he tilted his head to one side. "Axel?"

Riku was right. It was the eyes.

"You're beautiful."

It was possibly the stupidest thing I could have said. My mind caught up with my brain seconds too late.

Silence.

And then Roxas was laughing, that sexy, husk filled silk ribbon of laughter. I blinked a few times, then stepped forward, a small smirk playing on my lips. Lightly took his chin and tilted it upward. He stopped laughing right away, put up a hand and twined it in my hair, pulling me down another inch.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	9. Stephen

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**This Chapter Dedicated **to **Dualism** and **Vixen2004**. Awesome writers and great reviewers both.

To everyone who read, reviewed, watched, and added. I can't name you all because there are so many. But you all are wonderful, fools.

**Opening Notes:** I must apologize for my semi-long absence from here and the halt in my frequent updates. If you watch my profile page here, I mentioned on December 15 that I will be updating a little infrequently from now on. I've gone back to work and am trying to be a bigger part of my little sisters' upbringing. However, I have no intention of abandoning these stories. None. They will be finished, and some day I'll get back to **Why Are You Really Here?** Honest. So stop sending me messages about it. Especially stop sending me messages wherein you beg me to continue. I think I've mentioned before that begging irks me. So, in conclusion, here I give you the last chapter of this story. An interlude of sorts will follow, as I'm sure those of you dear to my heart – those who also share the RikuSora OTP – will want to know exactly what happened in the shower.

* * *

**Nine: Some people say that I must be a terrible person, but it's not true. I have the heart of a young boy in a jar on my desk**

"Is this the part where I'm supposed to swoon?" he asked in a near whisper, fingers tugging lightly on strands of my hair.

I chuckled. "It would be nice…"

I think he kissed me, but it was too fast and fleeting, happening within a blink, and I was left holding empty air, Roxas having stepped back, sheepishly holding his arm and looking down at the ground.

"Axel Moeru," Sora said after a long moment of gaping. Riku was frantically picking up all the items of clothing that had spilled out of the duffel bag his boyfriend had dropped, pausing now and then to throw me looks of equal incredibility and smugness.

"I can't leave you and my brother alone two minutes!" Sora waved his hands frantically in the air. "Roxas, how could you let him put moves on you?" he demanded.

"Actually," Roxas supplied, grinning and shooting me a playful wink, "I think I was putting moves on _him_."

Sora gaped some more.

"Or it was mutual," Roxas said with a shrug.

"It was mutual," came two voices from the kitchen. Naminé and Kairi.

"Never again will you be able to deny that you are a yaoi fangirl, Naminé," Roxas muttered darkly, still smirking. Naminé blushed and ducked behind Kairi.

"Do I _want_ to know?" Kairi asked.

Riku straightened up and shouldered the duffel bag. "Basically, Axel had a thing for Sora, but since he was afraid of what I might do to him if he so much as thought about touching my love, he went for the other Hikari brother."

Roxas, Sora, and I glared at him.

"I think you got most of it right, Unmei," I said finally. "Except for the whole being afraid of you thing. And I didn't go for Roxas because he was like leftovers or something."

"It's because he cares about me."

"Exactly."

The whole room went silent again.

"What?" I demanded. "I'm not allowed to have a heart?"

More silence.

Roxas laughed, the throaty husky ribbons reaching out and wrapping around me. "I'm one lucky guy, aren't I?" he said when he could speak again, taking his things from Riku.

"You are, though," Kairi spoke up. "Roxas, Axel might be a jerk sometimes and a little insensitive at the wrong times…"

"Hey!" I protested.

"But," Kairi continued, "His heart is in the right place. He's responsible. And," a mischievous smile lit her face. Oh Kairi Koun, I hate you. "He's very good in bed."

I think we just broke the record for most awkward silences in the span of five minutes.

"Bad mental image," Riku muttered.

Roxas thrust his bags into my arms.

"I can see what a good guy he is. He cared about me even though he didn't know me. He helped Sora when Sora was in need, and he's gotten you three here safe. He'll take me home."

Naminé came out from behind Kairi and hugged Roxas, kissing him on the cheek and telling him to call and write as often as he could and to please please behave.

"And you," she said to me, "If you break his heart, you'll have me to deal with."

I blinked.

"Wait a second. Has this whole conversation been about weather or not I'm allowed to date Roxas and vice versa?"

"Pretty much," Sora said with a cheerful smile.

"I think that's for Roxas to decide."

"Are you asking?" Roxas looked up at me, that beautiful glint in the clear blue of his eyes.

Shit.

Was I?

"I think…" I began and swallowed. What the hell was wrong with me? What happened to Axel, handsome charming guy? He'd been replaced by some guy too shy to speak, especially with so many pairs of eyes on him. Strange. I usually liked an audience. "I think I'd like a chance to get to know you better, and maybe later we can see…?"

Roxas twined his fingers loosely in my hair and pulled me down an inch to plant a soft kiss on my cheek.

"That's perfect," he said, and we walked out into the humidity of Florida again. But somehow, it didn't get to me this time. There was a cute boy with his arm looped though mine, smiling up at me, and it looked like the return trip was going to be just as exciting.

"Day six on the road. We have rescued Roxas, and all is well with the world. Hilary Duff has been banished from the soccer mom mobile along with Justin, Jesse, and Ciara. A moment of silence. Kairi is in the back seat, asleep. Riku and Sora are also asleep, and unknowns to Riku, he's wearing one of Kairi's thongs as a sleeping mask. The shock and bad mental images resulting from the fact that Kairi Koun actually owns such an item of clothing have passed. Roxas and I are the only ones awake, and we'll be stopping in Lakeland for gas in a bit. The adventure has mostly drawn to a close, my friends. It seems only yesterday or the day before when this all started.

It started with a whale.

Actually, it started with a sandwich named after a whale…"

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Roxas said, rolling his eyes and punching me lightly in the arm. Affectionately.

I grinned and turned off the tape recorder, shoving it into my pocket, coming across a thin, heavy box. I smirked.

"Here," I said, holding it out to him. "I saw that and thought of you."

He took it, a confused look on his face, mingling happiness.

The key glimmered faintly in the passing street lights of Lakeland. Red brassy gold.

"It's beautiful," he said quietly.

"I'd say it's the key to my heart or something, but that's kind of lame. So instead I'll say that it's the key to your future. Hopefully one you'll include me in."

He smiled at me and turned up the music a little.

_It's between two hearts  
A personal situation  
Between two hearts  
The kind of love with a reputation

* * *

_

**- The Writer**


	10. Interlude

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

* * *

**Opening Notes:** Once again, pray forgive my absence. As I mentioned before, I am working again, spending more time with my family, and the internet connection here isn't as reliable.

Here is the promised interlude, answering the question "What exactly happened in the bathroom?" You know, around chapter 6 or 7 when Riku was a coward about Sora using the L-word. This is told from Riku's POV. Because RikuSora is my OTP.

And I had to change the rating because of this chapter. Gourd.

This Interlude dedicated to a few very special people: **Dualism**, who is too amazing for words. **Constance Greene**, who is a wonderful reviewer and a great support for my writing. And for the **Psycho Rooster**, my newest best fan.

* * *

**(TEN): I Love You**

I'd have to remember about Axel's little talent. Who knows for what evil he'd used his lock picking prowess. But I pushed such thoughts to the back of my mind, focusing only on the words that echoed in my head from some moments before, Sora's sweet, hopeful face looking up at me, blue eyes shining. The gentle scraping of the hairpin in the lock provided a backbeat to the memory.

We were just walking along the river, and we stopped on one of the smaller bridges. I lifted Sora up onto the stone and climbed up beside him, putting an arm around him and planting a soft kiss on his neck. One of my favorite spots. Lights danced on the surface of the water, sparkling river. Sora was telling me something about river spirits. I wasn't really paying attention, though. It was a peaceful night, and I had him in my arms.

"Riku."

I blinked, looking down at him.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You were spacing out."

I grinned. "Sorry. You're just so beautiful."

He smiled and kissed me briefly, pulling back to stare at me. "I love you."

It took several moments for my head to stop spinning, my lungs to start functioning again, and my brain to kick my vocal chords into gear. I wanted to say it back, wanted to launch into a very romantic speech, or just pull him down onto the flagstone of the bridge and show him what I wanted to say, but for some reason nothing was working.

Have you ever had someone tell you that they love you?

Not your mom or your grandma.

But the one person who you thought of every day when you woke up and dreamed of at night. The person who could tame your worst flaws, love them. The person you would give your whole heart to?

I felt my grip on Sora loosen, and before I knew it, I was running. I was full of joy and fear and guilt and mostly love and I felt more invincible than ever. But when I stopped running, my arms felt cold without him, and I knew he must hate me for running, but I was brimming over, and I was afraid of startling him, worried that my words would make him regret his.

When I got back to the hotel room, he'd locked himself in the shower. I couldn't even distract myself from the guilt by thinking of him in there without his clothes on.

* * *

"Do you love him?" Axel asked me, his voice for once devoid of hatred that was usually directed at me.

"With all that I am."

* * *

The simplest answer. I left the happiness build up in me again, and I allowed myself to be lead back into the main room, watched him kneel down and fiddle at the lock with a pin. I silently vowed that if he'd used this trick to spy on Sora in the past, he was done for.

The door swung open easily, and I stepped in swiftly, closing the door behind me quietly.

Sora was humming something, back to me, reaching out a hand to see if the water was warm enough.

I was silent for a long pause, watching the way his pants slipped a little lower as he shifted forward to adjust the faucet. I stepped to the side a little, letting him catch me in his peripheral vision so that he wouldn't be too startled.

He pulled back his hand from the water and hastily pulled up and zipped up his pants. In the back of my mind I was disappointed, but I was more concerned with the look on his face. He didn't seem embarrassed. He seemed to be looking through me at the door, as though in his mind he were thinking absently, "I thought I locked that." His eyes were sad.

"Sora."

"I'm going to take a shower." His voice was monotone, but I knew him well enough to know that he was on the verge of tears. "You should get sleep. We need to wake up early tomorrow."

I gathered my courage and stepped forward.

"Whenever I look into your eyes," I said, voice shaking, "I fall in love with you all over again. But right now your eyes are sad, and it's breaking my heart."

He flinched and stepped back, unintentionally backing himself against the wall into the corner of the counter.

"Sora."

I leaned over him, one hand on either side of him, palms tense on the tile. I wasn't pinning him. He could escape if he wanted to, but I willed him to look up at me.

"What am I to you?" he asked, so quiet I could barely hear it over the running water.

I was taken aback, but he had every right to question me like that.

"You're Sora," I said, brushing my lips over his forehead. The gentlest touch I'd ever given. "You're the one I look to for light. The one who makes me happy, who loves me for me. The one I can't imagine living without."

He looked up at me, the question burning sapphire in his eyes. Hope.

"With every fiber of my being," I murmured. "Until the day that I die."

I'd never seen him smile like that before.

He pulled me down and kissed me gently, the exact kiss that he used to steal my heart over a year ago.

"I love you," I whispered against his skin, letting my hands drop and wander softly.

"Riku…" he kissed a line from my neck to my collarbone. We were being far more gentle than we'd ever been. It was thrilling.

"Sora."

I pulled away a little, my hands having reached his pants, lightly tugging at them. I felt heat rise to my face. Usually I was the one in control, making Sora squirm and moan. But today, he made me feel like melting with that smile and the way his eyes shone.

"I want…" I was having difficulty with the words.

"Do you want me, Riku?" he murmured, fingertips ghosting over my chest under my shirt.

I nodded weakly.

"I want… I want you to make love to me, Sora."

He seemed to absorb the request, closing his eyes briefly, then fixing me with an innocent look.

"But Riku… I don't know how to…" he looked away.

"It's okay," I said after a moment. "If you aren't comfortable with it…"

He looked up at me suddenly.

"You'd trust me?" he asked. "To dominate you?" I wasn't sure if I was reading the look in his eyes correctly, but I nodded just the same. The look of innocence faded to a smoldering look of want. I was aroused immediately.

"I've wanted to," he admitted. "But I thought you liked it better the way it was." I was amazed at how calmly he was speaking. Normally he'd stutter and become unintelligible when asking for sexual favors.

"I do," I smiled at him. "I love pleasing you. But I want to give you this."

He seemed to relax and slowly pulled me down for another kiss. I let him take control of it, and had to hold tight to the small of his back and the ledge of the shower tiles when he teased my tongue out and drew it into his own mouth, suckling and stroking. I felt my body spasm and forced myself to relax. His tongue tapped the tip of mine, then pressed against it, drawing it in further, his hand closing around my manhood, thumb massaging the tip, teasing the slit. I managed to control myself, moving my hand to his hip to hold on. Where had Sora learned this?

I felt my heart race and my breathing deepen, and Sora slowly broke the kiss, keeping his attention below my waist, sliding and stroking. I moaned softly, kissing his temple and urging him to continue. He smirked in a way that reminded me of my own reflection, sliding down and grasping the under curve of my ass and squeezing gently, pulling my pants down with fingers and teeth.

The feeling of his mouth on me was familiar, but the rhythm was more lustful than before, and I felt my knees going weak.

"Sora…" I warned him.

"I love you, Riku," he fired back, carefully pulling me down and shoving two fingers into me. I gasped in mingled pain and pleasure, feeling him there.

"Sora," I pleaded."

He hesitated a moment longer, then entered, repeating it. After that sweet torture he rolled me over onto my back and started from the beginning again, this time letting me erupt with pleasure.

When I could breathe normally again, I pulled him to me and his head settled into the hollow of my shoulder, nose nuzzling my neck.

"I love you," I murmured, feeling exhaustion claim me. "I love you so much."

"I love you, Riku," he whispered.

We fell asleep on the bathroom rug, the music of warm running water lulling us to a deep sleep.

* * *

**- The Writer**


	11. William

**99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall

* * *

**

**Disclaimer:** _noun_ (law) a voluntary repudiation of a person's legal claim to something. I claim no legal ownership to Kingdom Hearts. 覚えるしますか？

**Opening Notes:** You utter fools! Are you trying to do reverse psychology on me or something, or are you just that dense? **If you read my LJ** – which you should, especially if you look forward to new chapters of mine as much as you profess – you would have read _that_: Because so many people wanted a sequel to this story, you're not getting one. **But!** I am going to continue writing. This story has 125 favorites and 131 alerts. The numbers don't lie. So here we begin the return trip from Roxas's POV.

* * *

**Eleven: Commit the oldest sins, in the newest ways.**

"Why can't Riku drive?"

"My liscence was revoked."

"_Revoked_?" Axel repeated, eyebrows shooting up.

"He ran into a tree," Sora explained.

"A _tree_?" Kairi repeated slowly.

"A tree," Sora confirmed.

I smirked. "I knew you were an idiot, Riku, but that's even too stupid for you."

"It's not _my_ fault," Riku huffed. "If Sora's _hand_ hadn't been—"

"—And you _really_ don't need to finish that sentence," Axel and I added hastily, in stereo.

Kairi giggled. "You two are made for each other."

Axel just smiled and went back to studying the map. We'd been getting that a lot lately from everyone. Kairi mostly. Sora and Riku occasionally. Even some lady at the last gas station who overhead us exchanging friendly banter.

We were sitting in the booth of a Denny's – one of the few chain restaurants the other four didn't get banned from – plotting the shortest route home. Besides me and Kairi, though, everyone else was pretty navigationally challenged. So why did Axel have the map?

Because watching him study it intently was something of a turn on.

And because he was the only one done eating.

Kairi was poking a Caesar salad, Riku was finishing up some steak, and Sora was ignoring his chicken fingers and doodling detailed, intimate pictures of Riku and himself with the crayons they'd given him with the kid's menu. I figured that if the waitress saw them, she'd either faint or report us to her manager. I popped the last French fry into my mouth, leaned over Sora, and snatched the map neatly from Axel's hands.

"I think you'd better let me help you," I said, scooting over Sora's lap and seating myself beside him.

He took a sip of his iced tea and shrugged.

With one of Sora's crayon's – "Hey! Give me back Mr. Red!" – I drew a line. "Traffic is going to be heavy through here," I murmured, going around Axel's plan. "So we're better off taking a back road for a bit."

To my surprise, Axel was listening carefully.

"Hey!" Sora piped up, "We should have gone to Disneyworld!"

"No," I said firmly. "Never again, Sora. Not after last time."

Riku looked up from his mashed potatoes. "What happened last time?" he asked, curious. Sora muttered something and went back to doodling with his blue crayon.

"We were five," I informed him. "Sora got lost, and then when we found him, the guy in the Goofy costume and the lady in the Donald Duck costume quit their jobs."

"What did you _do_ to them?" Riku asked in awe.

Sora blushed and shrugged. "I don't remember."

There was a moment of silence, and then Kairi spoke up. "We can stay a couple of nights in Vegas, though. Right, Axel?"

"Provided we get there by Thursday," he replied.

"I wanna stay at Circus Circus!" Sora said, forgetting his crayons.

Kairi pushed her salad away. "Forget it, Sora. You're not Axel's favorite anymore."

Sora pouted. "That isn't fair! Make Axel take us to Circus Circus, Roxas!"

I blinked. "Why me?"

"Because you're my favorite now," Axel said, smirking matter-of-factly.

"Capricious, aren't you?"

He put an arm around me and pulled me close. "Come on, Rox," he said, speaking low, "Three words. Don't' make me say 'em."

I felt my heart stop and turned slightly so that our faces were inches apart.

"Axel?"

"You. Are. Special," he said smugly. Then, taking advantage of my stunned silence, placed a light kiss on my cheek before pulling away to call the waitress over.

Riku and Kairi were beginning an argument over the gender of Las Vegas showgirls, and while Axel ordered chocolate cake for Riku and Sora and a blondie for me – he knew what I wanted without having to ask – Sora looked over at me and winked. I could almost read his mind. _Axel really likes you, little bro.

* * *

_

Nothing much more was said, and then we all piled into the van – Axel driving, me in the front seat, Sora and Riku behind us and Kairi in the very back.

"But I'll get sick back here!" she protested.

"It's your car," Axel shot back. "I don't care if you throw up."

She crossed her arms and declared that she was never speaking to him again.

"Great," he said, getting onto the freeway and turning up the volume, knowing Kairi hated this song.

_Oh I know I  
Lived this life before  
Somehow I know now  
Truths I must be sure  
Tossin turnin, nightmares brunin  
Dreams of swords in hand_

I wasn't really listening to the music, too busy fingering the Bond of Chakram in my pocket. I was special. _I_ was special. I was _special_. I mulled the three simple words over in my head. What did Axel mean by that, exactly? I fell asleep wondering, and when I woke up it was dark. Kairi was curled up on the backseat, clutching a heart-shaped pillow. Sora rested comfortably in Riku's arms.

"Where are we?" I asked, not recognizing the highway.

"Oh, you're awake." Axel smiled fondly at me. "We're somewhere north of Tallahassee. I had to take a different road because I had to find a gas station."

I groaned.

"Axel, are you sure you know where you're going?"

He didn't answer me.

"Pull over," I hissed. "I'm going to drive. You shouldn't be the only one behind the wheel. I'll get us back to the main highway and find a hotel. It's nearly ten, anyway."

"Do you have a license?" he asked, pulling over and unbuckling his seatbelt.

"No. Mom never gave me lessons or took me to Driver's Education."

"But you're going to drive the car?" he asked, a note of suspicion in his voice. Doubt?

"Don't worry. Naminé let me drive her car sometimes. I know what I'm doing."

He sighed and opened the door, walking around to the other side. I really hated driving, but there was no way I was going to let Axel keep at it all night. He needed rest, too.

Luckily, everyone else was asleep and I could pretend they weren't there, which was a lot easier on my nerves. It took me about an hour, but I managed it, finding an inexpensive hotel at last.

Riku carried Sora into the room and put him on one of the beds as carefully as possible, then climbed in beside him. My brother turned to him immediately in his sleep and soon they were a loose tangle of limbs, Sora's head tucked under Riku's chin and their hands clasped over Riku's chest lightly rising and falling. Kairi started to pull Axel to bed with her, but spotting me, he said I should share the other bed with Kairi.

"I'll sleep on the cot," he offered, gesturing to the pathetic little thing the bellhop had brought in along with our bags.

"Don't be stupid. You need to sleep on a good bed. _I'll_ sleep on the cot."

"_I'll_ sleep on the damn thing," Kairi said finally, throwing her pillow onto it and pulling the thin sheets over her head.

"If I hear _anything_ tonight I'm going to steal Axel's wallet and abandon you guys here. I'll take the van and go to Vegas. So keep your hands to yourself, Axel. Goodnight."

Axel smirked and glanced at me sidelong. "I don't know," he said after a moment. "Who could resist Roxas?"

I felt heat rise to my face and was grateful for the darkness of the room. Axel chuckled, seeming to know the effect of his words. But he stayed on his side of the bed, only reaching out to take my hand as sleep claimed me, twining his fingers loosely with mine.

* * *

**- The Writer**


End file.
